FanNation - The Republic of Sport

Nickb23- It's a Girl! said 05/11, 01:50 PM
It is hard to argue against Ichiro but the best leadoff hitter in the game right now is...
Rafael Furcal, LA Dodgers

I am not real sure where you are headed with this fantasy world of making up stats for what you think they will do... I will enlighten you with what they are actually on pace to do.....the most interesting stat to me is the on base percentage difference.....that is the key to being a leadoff hitter.....getting on base. Furcal is 117 points higher than Ichiro.

player BA Runs Hits 2B's 3B's HR's RBI's BB's SB's OBP
Furcal .366 168 242 59 10 25 79 94 40 .448
Ichiro .280 102 188 26 9 9 43 47 64 .331

As you can see Furcal is having a remarkable year and while Ichiro is a great leadoff hitter, he is not the best in the game right now. A .331 OBP is not what you want out of the leadoff guy. A .448 is what every GM prays for. Ichiro will improve, I am sure. Furcal will go down on his pace as well, but as you can see he has quiet a lead on Ichiro in all but one category. His ballclub has also won more games in the process.

Nickb23- It's a Girl! said 05/11, 03:01 PM
Clearly I agree historically Ichiro is better than Furcal but he is 34 and getting older. You say he is heating up, really, that is news to me.....his average over the last 7 games is .280. I realize you tend to go for the easy win and that is why you threw this out their for the passing public.

But this is 2008 and Furcal is playing some great ball. He has always been a much better than Ichiro at drawing walks. He has drawn between 55 and 73 all of the last 5 years, as Ichiro hasn't drawn over 50 in any of them. So now that Furcal has become a better hitter and still has great patience at the plate, he has become a valuable asset to his lineup.

I am not argueing careers here buddy. I am talking about the here and now. Furcal is on pace to score 168 runs to Ichiro's 102. An on base of .448 to Ichiro's .331.

I agree Ichiro was a better leadoff hitter, but right now the best leadoff man in the game is the one who is getting on base and scoring runs like no other leadoff man in the game.

Nickb23- It's a Girl! said 05/11, 07:59 PM
Sorry about the Buddy comment, that is just how I roll sometimes ( I am such a dumass)

So are you saying that guys never improve in this great game, also are you saying guys never decline? I hate to break it to you but it happens every single year.

So Furcal has never done anything of any kind. He has scored 100 runs 4 times before. Including 130, which by the way is more than Ichiro has ever scored in a season (don't believe me, look it up). He has always been a decent walks guy, he has a career average of .287. Not great but it is possible for him to improve on that. I will not just say guys can have crazy year, let me give examples...........

Moises Alou in 2000 was a career .295 hitter, he was 33(older than Furcal). He hit .355 that year.
Adrian Beltre a career .271 hitter hit .334 in 2004 .

So you can tell me whatever you want about this being a fluke and it doesn't happen. The fact is the 30 year old is having a great season and has always been great at scoring runs. The 34 year old is having a down season to this point and until things change.....Things are as they appear.